Stop Saying ‘We Should Do a Webinar’: Start With Why

The #1 thing I hate hearing as a marketer is: “We should do a podcast.”
The #2? “We should do a webinar.”

Don’t get me wrong. I love a good podcast. I love a good webinar. But when I hear those words, I shudder. They’re not “snap your fingers” tactics

Both require a clear goal, a why, and a plan. And that’s just to create the strategy. That’s not even the bill of materials.

Why Founders Already Understand Strategy in Product Development

Founders know this instinctively when it comes to product. Nobody comes up to you and says, “Hey, your product is cool, but I need you to add X feature,” and you drop everything to build it.

You’re playing a bigger game: following a roadmap, building a foundation, making choices that ladder up to a vision.

Starting With the Why: The Same Goes for a Webinar (or Anything in Marketing)

The same way you wouldn’t build a new product feature without a strategy, you shouldn’t run a webinar without a clear reason behind it. A webinar isn’t valuable just because it exists. It’s valuable when it ties into a goal. Are we trying to:

• Engage prospects/customers and fill pipeline?
• Create broad awareness and educate the market?
• Show visible external activity for stakeholders (ahem, investors)?

Webinars Require Buy-In and the Right Champion

• A champion/talking head who has the time, energy, and credibility to show up
• Cross-team coordination to make it all work
• Alignment on the plan

Then — and only then — a marketer can do their magic: spinning up ads, emails, landing pages, and campaigns around it.

The Real Takeaway: Don’t Start With Format, Start With Outcome

When those pieces are in place, the results can be fantastic. But if you launch into a webinar just because it feels like you “should,” it quickly becomes busywork — and busywork rarely moves the needle.

Don’t start with format.
Start with outcome.
Then let format follow.